The present invention relates to a shoemaking method and shoes. More specifically, the invention relates to a method for easily manufacturing shoes fitting the shapes of the wearers"" feet, and to the shoes manufactured by this method.
The shoes to which the present invention is applied are not limited to the shoes in a narrow sense, each of which has an upper for wholly covering the instep and heel of the foot, but include sandals and the like, each of which has one or more uppers for covering only part of the instep and/or heel of the foot.
In general, ready-made shoes, which are mass-produced at factories etc., are manufactured using a standard mold for each size. The shape of the standard mold is based on the average human foot shape. Commonly, conventional ready-made shoe products have only one width for each size for any of men, women and children. There are exceptional products of different widths for each size, but they are expensive and limited in design. On the other hand, individuals who buy and wear ready-made shoes have an infinite variety of foot shapes even if they have the same foot size. In particular, individuals"" feet vary greatly in width. Consequently, shoes ready-made with standard molds, as stated above, and having only one width for each size may not fit the wearers various foot shapes.
Thus, conventional ready-made shoes may not fit the buyers"" foot shapes fully in terms of shoe width etc. Therefore, even if one chooses a pair of shoes of his or her favorite design and/or color and the size that he or she thinks is optimum, it may not fit his or her feet. Consequently, when buying a pair of shoes, one may have to sacrifice any of its size, width, design, color, etc.
Even the exceptional ready-made shoes of different widths for each size may not fit the wearers each having different foot widths. Because the forefoot and rearfoot parts of these shoes are graded in width at the same rate, both parts fit the wearers"" feet at a very low probability.
As a result, one has so far had to rely on a custom-made product to obtain a pair of shoes fitting his or her foot shape, and it has been thought substantially impossible in terms of costs, productivity, etc. that conventional ready-made shoes would fit the wearers"" different foot shapes.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to solve the foregoing conventional problems and provide a method for making ready-made shoes that fit individuals"" foot shapes.
This object can be achieved by the following means according to the present invention:
[1] A method for making a shoe including a forefoot upper, a rearfoot upper, a forefoot sole, a rearfoot sole and an innersole, the forefoot and rearfoot uppers being divisions on the front and rear sides, respectively, of the arch of the shoe body, the forefoot and rearfoot soles being other divisions on the front and rear sides, respectively, of the arch, the innersole being laid in the formed shoe body, the method comprising the steps of:
forming a forefoot part by joining the forefoot upper to the forefoot sole;
forming a rearfoot part by joining the rearfoot upper to the rearfoot sole; and
forming the shoe body by connecting the forefoot and rearfoot parts by detachably connecting the uppers of the forefoot and rearfoot parts by means of connecting means and detachably connecting the soles of the forefoot and rearfoot parts by means of other connecting means.
[2] A method for making a shoe including a forefoot upper, a rearfoot upper, a forefoot sole, a rearfoot sole and an innersole, the forefoot and rearfoot soles being divisions on the front and rear sides, respectively, of the arch of the shoe body, the innersole being laid in the formed shoe body, the method comprising the steps of:
forming a forefoot part by joining the forefoot upper to the forefoot sole;
forming a rearfoot pert by joining the rearfoot upper to the rearfoot sole; and
forming the shoe body by connecting the forefoot and rearfoot parts by detachably connecting the soles of the forefoot and rearfoot parts by means of connecting means.
[3] A method for making a shoe including a forefoot part, a rearfoot part and an innersole, the forefoot and rearfoot parts being divisions on the front and rear sides, respectively, of the arch of the shoe body, the innersole being laid in the formed shoe body, the method comprising the steps of:
forming the forefoot part by integrally molding a forefoot upper and a forefoot sole;
forming the rearfoot part by integrally molding a rearfoot upper and a rearfoot sole; and
forming the shoe body by connecting the forefoot and rearfoot parts by detachably connecting the uppers of the forefoot and rearfoot parts by means of connecting means and detachably connecting the soles of the forefoot and rearfoot parts by means of other connecting means.
[4] A method for making a shoe including a forefoot part, a rearfoot part and an innersole, the forefoot and rearfoot parts being divisions on the front and rear sides, respectively, of the arch of the shoe body, the innersole being laid in the formed shoe body, the method comprising the steps of:
forming the forefoot,part by integrally molding a forefoot upper and a forefoot sole;
forming the rearfoot part by integrally molding a rearfoot upper and a rearfoot sole; and
forming the shoe body by connecting the forefoot and rearfoot parts by detachably connecting the soles of the forefoot and rearfoot parts by means of connecting means.
It is another object of the present invention to provide shoes made by the foregoing methods and fitting individuals"" foot shapes.
This object can be achieved by the following means according to the present invention:
[5] A shoe including a forefoot upper, a rearfoot upper, a forefoot sole, a rearfoot sole and an innersole, the forefoot and rearfoot uppers being divisions on the front and rear sides, respectively, of the arch of the shoe body, the forefoot and rearfoot soles being other divisions on the front and rear sides, respectively, of the arch, the innersole being laid in the formed shoe body, the shoe comprising:
a forefoot part formed by joining the forefoot upper to the forefoot sole;
a rearfoot part formed by joining the rearfoot upper to the rearfoot sole;
connecting means for detachably connecting the uppers of the forefoot and rearfoot parts;
connecting means for detachably connecting the soles of the forefoot and rearfoot parts; and
the innersole laid in the shoe body formed by connecting the forefoot and rearfoot parts by means of the two connecting means.
[6] A shoe including a forefoot upper, a rearfoot upper, a forefoot sole, a rearfoot sole and an innersole, the forefoot and rearfoot soles being divisions on the front and rear sides, respectively, of the arch of the shoe body, the innersole being laid in the formed shoe body, the shoe comprising:
a forefoot part formed by joining the forefoot upper to the forefoot sole;
a rearfoot part formed by joining the rearfoot upper to the rearfoot sole;
connecting means for detachably connecting the soles of the forefoot and rearfoot parts; and
the innersole laid in the shoe body formed by connecting the forefoot and rearfoot parts by means of the connecting means.
[7] A shoe including a forefoot part, a rearfoot part and an innersole, the forefoot and rearfoot parts being divisions on the front and rear sides, respectively, of the arch of the shoe body, the innersole being laid in the formed shoe body, the shoe comprising:
the forefoot part formed by integrally molding a forefoot upper and a forefoot sole;
the rearfoot part formed by integrally molding a rearfoot upper and a rearfoot sole;
connecting means for detachably connecting the uppers of the forefoot and rearfoot parts;
connecting means for detachably connecting the soles of the forefoot and rearfoot parts; and
the innersole laid in the shoe body formed by connecting the forefoot and rearfoot parts by means of the two connecting means.
[8] A shoe including a forefoot part, a rearfoot part and an innersole, the forefoot and rearfoot parts being divisions on the front and rear sides, respectively, of the arch of the shoe body, the innersole being laid in the formed shoe body, the shoe comprising:
the forefoot part formed by integrally molding a forefoot upper and a forefoot sole;
the rearfoot part formed by integrally molding a rearfoot upper and a rearfoot sole;
connecting means for detachably connecting the soles of the forefoot and rearfoot parts; and
the innersole laid in the shoe body formed by connecting the forefoot and rearfoot parts by means of the connecting means.
The present invention makes it possible to easily produce sorts of shoes of different widths for each size and a pair of shoes of different sizes and/or widths by forming some sorts of forefoot and/or rearfoot parts of different widths and/or the like and suitably combining them. It is therefore possible to provide ready-made shoes fitting individuals"" foot shapes.
The present invention also makes it possible to provide shoes having plenty of design variations, by combining necessary sorts of forefoot and rearfoot parts of any materials and/or designs. It is therefore possible to freely vary the designs, colors and/or materials of the bodies of shoes for the wearers"" tastes, making it possible to provide satisfactory shoes for personal use.
It is possible to anytime separate the forefoot and rearfoot parts of a shoe made by any one of the methods according to the present invention. Therefore, even if one of the forefoot and rearfoot parts is damaged or worn, it can be replaced easily.
The methods according to the present invention shorten the lead-time until the completion of shoes in comparison with the conventional methods. These methods reduce the loss of shoe parts, improving the yield of shoe production, because the shoes each have a small number of parts.